Posts Tagged ‘chevrolet news’

Chevrolet will be the first maker in the midsize pickup segment to offer a diesel option.

A year after launching its new midsize Colorado pickup, Chevrolet is back with a new diesel-powered version of the truck.

The new 2.8-liter Duramax diesel will be offered in the near-twin GMC Canyon, as well, making the pair the only diesels offered in the rebounding midsize pickup market. While no hard figures for the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado Diesel were released, it has been widely anticipated that highway mileage will top 30 mpg when the truck goes on sale this fall.

Keep on Truckin'!

“Along with greater capability and efficiency, it expands the Colorado lineup to give customers more choices and the capability of exploring more possibilities on and off the road, said Sandor Piszar, director of Chevrolet Truck Marketing.

The 2012 Buick Enclave is one of the various GM crossovers covered by the liftgate recall.

Capping a week that already has seen some massive recalls, General Motors has announced a new service action covering 686,000 midsize crossover-utility vehicles because their rear liftgates could fail.

The latest recall by GM – which has taken major heat for safety problems over the last 18 months – covers Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia CUVs sold during the 2008 through 2012 model-year, 2009 through 2012 model-year Chevrolet Traverses and 2007 through 2010 model-year Saturn Outlooks.

Keeping You Safe!

According to a report posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, the affected vehicles are equipped with power liftgates whose gas struts may prematurely wear out. If that happens, the hatches could suddenly and unexpectedly fall.

Howie Long compares Chevy Silverado and Ford F-150 repair costs in one new web ad.

General Motors is amping up its attack on Ford’s highly touted, aluminum-intensive F-150 in a bid to gain dominance in the hugely profitable full-size pickup segment.

The YouTube web spots – which may soon turn into a network TV campaign – rely on a 700-pound bear, a fake superhero and NFL broadcaster Howie Long in a bid to portray Ford’s new truck as too costly for the average owner to maintain.

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The stakes are huge. Full-size pickups are some of the most profitable vehicles in the industry. Ford has long dominated the segment with its F-Series line-up, but some analysts say it may be vulnerable in the wake of the switch from steel to aluminum for the 2015 model-year.

At the beginning of 2014, when fuel prices seemed headed for new record highs, U.S. shoppers couldn’t drive off fast enough with small cars and alternative-power vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius and Nissan Leaf.

But with fuel costs down by at least $1 a gallon across the country, manufacturers have been struggling to sell those same, high-mileage vehicles. That’s forced them to stack up new incentives on the hood and, in some cases, slash production.

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That poses a challenge for the industry as it faces new fuel economy mandates for 2016 – with even tougher targets phasing in from now until 2025. Even so, automakers show little sign of retreating from the aggressive plans they’ve put in place to introduce new battery-based vehicles and other clean alternatives.

The Dodge Challenger and Charger Hellcat models take center stage in the new Predators ad campaign.

At 707 horsepower, the Dodge Challenger and Charger Hellcat models are the most powerful muscle cars to ever roll off a Detroit assembly line, and the fastest. Just ask any dealer who has watched the two vehicles squeal out of showrooms faster than the factory can build them.

Even though Dodge is heavily promoting the Hellcat models in a series of new 30- and 90-second ads, the Hellcats are sold out for the rest of the 2015 model-year. But parent Fiat Chrysler isn’t the only one struggling to meet demand. Ford Motor Co. saw a roughly 40% jump in sales of its long-popular Mustang last month, and while sales are off a bit for the Camaro, Chevrolet expects a big surge of demand once it launches the all-new 2016 version in the months ahead.

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Only a few years ago, skeptics were predicting the demise of the muscle car, with the classic V-8 likely to be relegated to the automotive rust heap. Hybrids and battery-cars were expected to take their place. But as recent sales figures have demonstrated, Americans aren’t about to abandon their long-standing passion for performance. These days, manufacturers are being forced to pile on the incentives to get buyers to consider those alternative-power vehicles.

GM CEO Mary Barra shows off the larger but lighter and more fuel-efficient 2016 Chevrolet Cruze.

Chevy hopes to Cruze to the top of the compact sales charts with the all-new sedan it’s launching later this year. The 2016 Chevrolet Cruze will be larger than the outgoing model, yet lighter and more fuel-efficient.

The Detroit automaker also plans to add a new hatchback version of the 2016 Chevy Cruz, reflecting a growing shift in the American market as compact buyers in the U.S. start to fall in line with more global trends.

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While it might share its name with Chevrolet’s outgoing compact sedan, not much else remains the same, said styling chief John Cafaro during a Detroit preview. “The Cruze’s approach to proportion and premium details adds to Chevrolet’s elevation of craftsmanship, content, quality and a fresh interpretation on an identity that is unmistakably Chevrolet,” he proclaimed.

Chevrolet officially took the wraps off its new edition to the 2016 Camaro line-up: the convertible.

With most vehicles it might be almost anticlimactic, but most fans are likely to make an exception here. Just two days after undisguised pics of the ragtop leaked out onto the Web, Chevrolet has now made it official, pulling the covers off the 2016 Camaro Convertible.

No surprise, the cabriolet retains most of the distinctive lines that earned the Camaro Coupe rave reviews when it debuted two months ago. The new softtop is no longer the classic Rube Goldberg affair, meanwhile, but the same sort of slick origami that we find on most modern European convertibles, allowing a motorist to drop the top at speeds up to 30 mph – or operate it remotely from the keyfob.

Power and Performance News!

And, as with the Camaro Coupe, the new convertible is lighter and more aerodynamic, Chevy suggesting it has cut mass by about 200 pounds while still delivering a stiffer body structure. (more…)

Hyundai has scored major gains in quality with products like the 2015 Tucson, according to Power.

This story contains updated information.

If the latest J.D. Power survey is any indication, you might need to re-think just about everything you thought you knew about automotive quality.

The latest Initial Quality Survey, or IQS, finds that Japanese automakers, on the whole, have suffered a significant slide in the quality charts, with only three brands in the Top 10 this year. But the real shocker might be the surge in Korean quality. Kia, a brand long known for cheap, mediocre products, was second, behind top-ranked Porsche, with Hyundai ranked fourth. Jaguar, also struggling to reverse a reputation for poor quality, was third.

Your Quality News Site!

For the Korean brands, which are caught up in a ferocious battle for market, the survey results represent a measure of vindication. “We are extremely proud of the results,” said Mike Ofiara, a spokesman for Kia, which finished second in the overall ranking. “We’ve come a very long way. It’s representative of a lot of hard work by a lot of people.”

At least 40 upcoming models are expected to integrate the new Apple CarPlay technology.

The big news out of Apple’s annual developer’s conference is the impending release of the next-generation operating system for devices like the iPhone and iPad. But along with the launch of iOS 9, Apple also plans to upgrade its new CarPlay system.

That’s a major step considering the first cars equipped with CarPlay – including 14 models from Chevrolet – won’t even hit the road until summer. But the revised system will soon be able to do more than play Spotify through your car’s audio system.

High-Tech News!

Automakers like Chevy will be able to develop proprietary apps of their own that could be used to operate all manner of vehicle functions, such as tracking fuel economy, unlocking a door or finding a vehicle in a crowded stadium parking lot. The update will permit CarPlay to operate on a wider range of screen sizes, as well.

The 2016 Chevrolet Cruze is expected to be roomier, lighter, more fuel-efficient and better-equipped.

Chevrolet has released the first of what is likely to be a running series of teaser images and dripped out details for the next-generation Cruze sedan it will formal unveil later this month.

One of the most important products in its global line-up, Chevy is hoping to develop plenty of buzz before General Motors CEO Mary Barra helps pull the wraps off the new model on June 24th. The 2016 Cruze is one of a broad mix of new Chevrolet models coming to market for 2016, along with an all-new version of the Camaro pony car, the second-generation Volt plug-in hybrid and a complete makeover of the midsize Malbu.

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“When we introduced the (current) Cruze it replaced 15 other compact vehicles around the globe,” noted Alan Batey, president, General Motors North America and global Chevrolet brand chief. That included the generally unloved Chevy Cobalt, helping the GM brand regain some much-needed traction in a segment of the U.S. market long dominated by the Japanese.